This invention relates to printers. In particular, this invention relates to the manner in which a cutting mechanism for printing media is actuated in a handheld printer.
Handheld printers are used to print labels for application to documents, folders, packaging, and other items. Handheld printers provide flexibility in the location at which labels can be printed, as such printers are portable and are usually not physically tethered to a computer.
Given handling and mobility considerations, handheld printers typically print onto rolls of printing media which are housed in a protective cartridge. As the printing occurs, the printing media is fed from the roll, past a print head, and to the exterior of the handheld printer.
Periodically, a portion of the printing media that has been printed upon may need to be separated from the rest of the roll. Conventionally, an user-operated cutting mechanism on the discharge slot of the printer is used to cut the media as necessary.
Actuation of the cutting mechanism is typically independent of the printing operation. This independence allows, for example, a number of items to be printed on a single strip of printing media without automatically severing the items from one another. However, this independence in operation also requires that the user perform a separate independent action to cut the media.
Frequently, the cutter actuation mechanism is in the form of a sliding button or a lever that actuates a blade. When the user slides the button or moves the lever, the blade is forced through the media to cut it.
However, it may be awkward for the user to operate the cutter. The operation of the sliding button or lever may require the use of both of the user's hands - one hand to hold the printer and one hand to operate the cutter. Further, most handheld printers are designed with right-handed ergonomics in mind, making left-handed operation of the cutter clumsy.
Other actuation mechanisms may require long travel distances for the button or lever to achieve the amount of motion necessary to actuate the blades. This long travel distance may strain the hand of the user during operation. Particularly at the end of the motion, the user may have difficulty providing the force required to complete the cut.
Hence, a need exists for an improved cutter actuation mechanism. In particular, there is a need for a cutter actuation mechanism that is easily operable by left and right-handed users and that reduces the force required throughout actuation.